54 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



parison at a distance, but in most cases the sending of the formulae 

 either alone or with the addition of a few details would suffice, and 

 could be easily telegraphed. 



To insure the rapid selection of a given print, especially in a large 

 collection, some method of classification other than by name and family 

 would be requisite and this could be done by filing the actual prints 

 alphabetically and making a card catalogue of the formula? and descrip- 

 tions, the arrangement of which would depend upon certain features 

 selected from these. 



By such means it would be easily possible to keep even a great 

 number of records in a very compact form, and in the larger towns 

 and in cities this would demand the use of a special room in the 

 municipal building and the maintenance of a clerk to take and file the 

 prints and to be on hand for consultation in case of need, yet the small 

 expense involved in this would be trivial in comparison with the large 

 amounts which would often be saved by a prompt and accurate deter- 

 mination. 



It is, then, a matter of certainty that a system of personal identifi- 

 cation founded upon the epidermic markings of palms and soles would 

 endure all the tests required of such a system and would be in point 

 of absolute accuracy, rapidity of application, simplicity and conve- 

 nience in classification much superior to any system now in vogue. Its 

 uses would be as numerous as are the cases in which the identification 

 of a body, living or dead, becomes for any reason a matter of im- 

 portance and it may be prophesied that the countless cases where doubt, 

 uncertainty and great expense are involved, and which are now of con- 

 stant occurrence, may be ultimately prevented through its establish- 

 ment. 



